Diagon Alley Preview Event and Photo Tour – Part II – Exploring London, Welcome Show and Entering Diagon Alley

This is Part II of my Diagon Alley Preview Event Photo Tour. This post covers: Exploring London, the Sneak Peek Event Welcome Show and Entering Diagon Alley.

Exploring London

Upon arriving in London, where they had literally rolled out the red carpet for us, we had some time to enjoy appetizers and beverages during a cocktail party in the London waterfront. Since I had a camera in each hand and I wanted to get some photos and video of the area, I didn’t actually get to eat or drink anything during this time despite the fact it was about 90 degrees and 100% humidity. It had down-poured about an hour earlier, so the air was pretty moist. The humidity levels will be more than evident by the looks of my hair in photos from Ollivanders a little late on this evening. oof.

The facades are very well detailed and very beautiful. Even the fountain is striking. Everything becomes even more attractive when lit up in the evenings too.

The triple-decker Knight Bus is an attraction itself. The Knight Bus driver is available to meet guests and the shrunken head inside will converse with guests and the conductor, too.

Here’s a look at Grimmauld Place — where the family home of Sirius Black is located in the stories. If you watch closely, you can see Kreacher the house elf peering out the window from time to time.

Sneak Peek Event Welcome Show

After a bit of exploring London, I secured a position close to the stage where a podium was set up. I had no idea who I’d see, but wanted to get a spot while most people were still enjoying the cocktail party. Unfortunately, the area near the stage was also between the fountain and the Knight bus, so there was not a lot room to stake out a good spot, and once the crowd filled in, it was pretty tight.

Crowd to my left just a few minutes before the show started. Crowd to my right. 

After nightfall, the Knight Bus conductor Stan Shunpike appeared unexpectedly from the Knight Bus and kicked off the welcome show. He’s quite entertaining, full of himself and a little bit snarky, much like the character in the movies.

He was kind enough to tell us a little about what we were about to experience in Diagon Alley. He also warned us about the huge, fire-breathing dragon we would soon encounter there before introducing Bill Davis, the President and COO of Universal Orlando Resort.

Mr. Davis spoke briefly about Diagon Alley as well as the creative process for building both parts of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando. Next up were introductions of some of the Harry Potter cast members who where making a special appearance for us: Domhnall Gleason (Bill Weasley), Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom) and Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid). I’d like to say it was a thrill to see the stars there, but honestly, I couldn’t see them from where I was standing. I was able to hoist up my video camera and capture some awful, shaking glimpses of them, but, really, I could only see them on the screens.

Luckily, a friend who was also in attendance shared this photo of the cast with me.

After Robbie waved his wand (aka his pink umbrella), the bricks parted, there were a few pops of fireworks, and we were off into Diagon Alley!

Boy, was it a large party. As you can see, it was a bit crowded!

Diagon Alley

Upon entering Diagon Alley, it was immediately clear that this was going to be unlike any theme park experience I had ever encountered before. Walking into the dark streets that were filled (I mean, FILLED) with wizards and witches, I knew I was in for a doozy of an experience. Begin sensory overload.

I immediately encountered several wizards who were very curious about my Muggle devices (cameras) and their purpose. That seemed to be “the” line of the evening because I was questioned about my devices several times throughout the evening. After walking in a bit, I got a glimpse of the centerpiece of Diagon Alley, Gringotts Bank – complete with a 60-foot, fire-breathing Ukrainian Ironbelly dragon perched atop it.

I have to tell you, when you see that thing breathing fire at night, it’s going to knock your socks off! The flame lights the sky and you can feel the heat. It comes without warning except for a groan (roar?) a few seconds before spewing fire high above the street. If you want to get photo or video of it, you are going to have to be really quick or already filming! It’s tough to catch! I can’t wait to see if it looks as scary and impressive during the daytime.

Having heard that Diagon Alley’s signature attraction, Harry Potter and the Escape from Gingotts, was open, the group I was with decided to make our way there before it got too crowded and/or before the ride was closed down. The attraction was not available during some parts of media preview held in the days prior, so we were concerned it could be shut down again during our event.

To the dragon, we went!

Continue to Part III – Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts

Back to Part I – Intro, Hogwarts Express and King’s Cross Station